HK1150649B - Quick coupling with safety catch device - Google Patents

Abstract

A quick coupling (100) comprising a first element (50) and a second element (60) which may be separably coupled is described; the first element (50) mainly including an external sleeve (1) with hooking means (3), a connector (2) for user interface (25), and at least one valved coupling (16) for at least one pressure line (9, 10), the second element (60) mainly including hooking means (13, 15, 70), at least one valved coupling (17) for at least one pressure line (20, 21), and a connector (12) for user interface (122). Said second element (60) further comprises a safety ring nut (11) along the circumference of which safety pins (14) are provided, adapted to be pushed by said hooking means (15, 70) into seats (4) of the external sleeve (1).

Description

Quick connector with safety brake device

The invention relates to a quick connector with a safety brake device.

Quick couplings are known which comprise a first element and a second element which can be coupled separately.

Externally, the first element is mainly formed by an outer sleeve and a connector. The outer sleeve is provided with a hook system having three helical grooves. The connector has two threaded outlets for a user interface (tubing, control unit, etc.).

Internally, the first element is mainly formed by two valve nipples, which are not aligned with each other, and at least one guide pin.

One of the valve connectors is inserted into the pressure line and the other into the discharge line and acts to close the flow when the connectors are disconnected and to clear the connectors when they are coupled.

The guide pin allows centering with the second element during the hooking step.

Externally, the second element is mainly formed by a hooking ring nut, a safety ring nut, and a connector. The hook ring nut has three radial fixation pins that allow the coupling of the second component with the first component by engaging the helical groove and due to the rotation of the ring nut.

Internally, the second element is mainly formed by two valve nipples that are not aligned with each other, and at least one valve seat for a guide pin.

One of the valve connectors is inserted into the pressure line and the other into the discharge line and acts to close the flow when the connectors are disconnected and to clear the connectors when they are coupled.

The valve seat receives the guide pin of the first element, allowing it to be centred with respect to the first element during the hooking step.

Examples of known linkers are described in patents EP-0744522, EP-0932791, EP-0542342, EP-0580233 and EP-0686800, all belonging to the present applicant.

The object of the present invention is to provide a quick coupling comprising a first element and a second element having a safety device associated with a known hooking system of the type described above.

According to the invention, such an object is achieved by a quick coupling comprising a first element and a second element which can be coupled separately, the first element mainly comprising an outer sleeve with hooking means, a connector for a user interface, and at least one valve connector for at least one pressure line, the second element mainly comprising hooking means, at least one valve connector for at least one pressure line, and a connector for a user interface, the quick coupling being characterized in that said second element also comprises a safety ring nut along the circumference of which safety pins are provided, which are adapted to be pushed by said hooking means into a valve seat of the outer sleeve.

These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a practical embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

figure 1 shows a perspective view of a first element of a joint;

FIG. 2 shows a left side view from FIG. 4;

FIG. 3 shows a right side view of FIG. 4;

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a second component of the joint;

FIG. 6 shows a right side view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 7 shows a left side view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of the first and second components aligned in a first position;

FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of the first and second components aligned in the second position;

FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional view of the first and second elements aligned in a third position;

FIG. 12 shows a cross-sectional view of the first and second components aligned in a fourth position;

FIG. 13 shows a cross-sectional view of the first and second elements aligned in a fifth position;

FIG. 14 shows a cross-sectional view of the first and second elements aligned in a sixth position;

FIG. 15 shows a left side view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 16 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line XVI-XVI of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 shows a side view of the first member;

FIG. 18 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line XVIII-XVIII of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 shows a side view of a second element;

FIG. 20 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line XX-XX of FIG. 19;

figure 21 shows a cross-sectional view of a joint with a fixed shutter.

The drawings illustrate a quick connector 100, the quick connector 100 including a first member 50 and a second member 60.

Externally, the first element 50 (fig. 1-4) is mainly formed by the outer sleeve 1 and the connector 2. The outer sleeve 1 is provided with a hook system having three helical grooves 3 and three front seats 4 for safety devices. The connector 2 has two threaded outlets 25 for user interfaces (pipes, control units, etc.).

Internally, the first element 50 is mainly formed by two valve connectors 16, shutter 6 and guide pin 7, which are not aligned with each other.

One of the valve connections 16 is inserted into the pressure line 9 and the other into the discharge line 10 and serves to close the flow when the connections are disconnected and to clear the connections when they are coupled.

By means of the seal 8, the shutter 6 closes the axial hole 61, which axial hole 61 is placed in communication with the pressure line 9 by means of a channel 91 transversal to the axis (fig. 4 and 18).

The guide pin 7 allows to be centred with the second element 60 during the hooking step.

Externally, the second element 60 (fig. 5-8) is mainly formed by a hooking ring nut 70, a safety ring nut 11, and a connector 12. The hooking ring nut 70 has three radial fixing pins 13 which, by engaging the helical groove 3 and due to the rotation of the ring nut 70, allow the coupling of the second element 60 with the first element 50.

Three shear pins 14 are fixed in the safety ring nut 11, sliding axially with the ring nut 11 itself. The safety ring nut 11 is pushed by the compression spring 15 against the hooking ring nut 70.

Internally, the second element 60 is mainly formed by two valve connections 17, which are misaligned with respect to each other, a diverter valve 18 and a valve seat 19 for the guide pin 7.

One of the valve connectors 17 is inserted into the pressure line 20 and the other into the discharge line 21 and serves to close the flow when the connectors are disconnected and to clear the connectors when they are coupled.

The diverter valve 18 allows the pressure line 20 to communicate with the discharge line 21 when the coupling is disengaged and closes the communication when the coupling is coupled.

The connector 12 has at one of its ends two threaded outlets 122 for a user interface (pipe, etc.), while the inner part connected to the first element 50 has the property that the two lines 20 and 21 become coaxial (figures 16 and 20), and by means of the spherical means 16, allows the rotation of the part 12 'of the connector 12 connected to the pipe with respect to the outer sleeve 1 (in figure 16, the part 12' is represented as rotating with respect to figure 8). It is noted that the turning part 12' may also or alternatively be provided with a first element 50 in the connector 2.

The valve seat 19 houses the guide pin 7 of the first element 50, thus allowing the centering with the first element 50 during the hooking step.

To couple the joint (fig. 9-12), the outer sleeve 1 of the first element 50 is inserted into the hooking ring nut 70 of the second element (fig. 9) and centered by turning the two parts until the guide pin 7 enters its seat 19, while the hooking pin 13 enters the helical groove 3. At this point, the first component 50 is driven into the second component 60 by turning the hook ring nut 70 (fig. 10-11).

By touching the safety pin 14, the front part of the outer sleeve 1 pushes the safety ring nut 11, thus allowing the rotation of the hooking ring nut 70 to continue until the hooking pin 13 reaches the end of travel (end of helical groove). In this position, the coupling is completed and, thanks to the compression spring 15, the safety pin 14 is pushed into the seat 4 arranged frontally on the outer sleeve 1, thus preventing the hooking ring nut 70 from rotating with respect to the outer sleeve 1 and thus avoiding the accidental unhooking of the joint (fig. 12).

The first element 50 is blocked by the second element 60, while the coaxial rotary connector 12 of the projecting element 60, which can also be placed on the first element 50, can be rotated by means of the spherical means 16 (figure 12), thus avoiding possible twisting of the flexible tube.

To disengage the joint 100, the safety ring nut 11 needs to be backed off, so that the safety pins 14 are disengaged from their valve seats 4 (fig. 13) and thus rotate in the opposite direction with respect to the joint (fig. 14).

On the other hand, the front seat 4 of the outer sleeve 1 has a shoulder 41 (fig. 1) so that the pins 14 may not come off during the release rotation, while on the other hand they have inclined planes 42 to allow the pins 14 to come off during the hook rotation.

The steering means of the second element 60 comprise a steering valve 18, which steering valve 18 places the pressure line 20 in communication with the discharge line 21 by means of the channels 31 and 32 when the joint is uncoupled and closes the communication when the joint is coupled.

When the coupling is disengaged (fig. 9), the flow from the pressure line 20, thanks to the hydrostatic thrust, pushes the valve 18 forward, thus creating a passage in the chamber 34 of the valve 18 (fig. 9-11, see in particular the enlarged view of fig. 11), to flow through the channels 31 and 32 upstream and downstream of said chamber 34 into the discharge line 21. This fluid recirculation prevents pressure build up in the pressure line 20. When coupled, the valve 18 is in contact with the shutter 6 of the first element 50 (fig. 10) and is pushed against its seat 33 for closure.

With the valve 18 still open (fig. 11), the valve of the first element, i.e. the sealing sleeve 22, is first opened, thus allowing the possible pressure in the first element 50 to be discharged into the second element 60, and thus the valve 18 is opened to discharge into the discharge line. When the joint is fully coupled, the shutter 6 pushes the valve 18 towards the sealing seat 33, thus closing the communication between the pressure line 20 and the discharge line 21 (enlarged in figure 12).

The shutter 6 of the first element 50 has a diameter d1 greater than the diameter d2 of the valve 18 and therefore the hydrostatic thrust section of the shutter 6 is also greater than that of the valve 18. As a result of this concept, the pressure generates a large force on the shutter 6 side, which pushes the valve 18 towards the valve seat 33, thus ensuring sealing.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 21, it is possible to include a fixed shutter 6, which fixed shutter 6 in each case pushes the diverter valve 18 into its seat 33, possibly with a diameter of the valve 18 that exactly fits the chamber 34.

The unhooking of the coupling comprises a sequence of positions of the valve 18, which are opposite to those mentioned above.

Claims (2)

1. Quick coupling (100) comprising a first element (50) and a second element (60) which can be coupled separately,

the first element (50) comprises an outer sleeve (1) with a helical groove (3), a connector (2) for a user interface (25), and at least one valve connector (16) for at least one line (9, 10) under pressure,

the second element (60) comprises a hooking ring nut (70), a plurality of internal pins (13), a compression spring (15), at least one valve joint (17) for at least one line (20, 21) under pressure, and a connector (12) for a user interface (122),

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

-said plurality of inner pins (13) being radially fixed and adapted to engage in the helical groove (3) of the outer sleeve (1) to rotatably couple the second element (60) with the first element (50);

said second element (60) also further comprises a safety ring nut (11) provided with a plurality of safety pins (14) along the circumference of the safety ring nut (11),

these safety pins (14) slide axially with the safety ring nut (11) itself;

the safety ring nut (11) is adapted to be pushed by the hooking ring nut (70) into the valve seat (4) of the outer sleeve (1) under the action of the compression spring (15).

2. Joint according to claim 1, characterized in that the front portion of the outer sleeve (1) pushes the safety ring nut (11), thus allowing the continued rotation of the hooking ring nut (70), until the inner pin (13) reaches the end of the helical groove (3), in this position the coupling is completed, and due to the compression spring (15), the safety pin (14) is pushed into the seat (4) arranged frontally on the outer sleeve (1), thus preventing the hooking ring nut (70) from rotating with respect to the outer sleeve (1) and thus avoiding the accidental unhooking of the joint.